Answers Which No One Else Has
by Dark Rabbit
Summary: Pegasus and Seto together again? That would be because Atem and Bakura got bored in the Afterlife, and they decided to put mortals together as they used to do with the Monsters. Memories have been wiped. And soon the two mortals notice. And they start to ask questions...
1. Pegasus Gets a Surprise

"A yell of thirst,  
As if piecing the depression-filled heart  
I want to invite you to see this world with me.  
Inside dreams are answers which no one else have.  
You can trust me  
JUST TAKE MY HEART  
This journey continues..."  
- "Kawaita Sakebi" translated by Jessica Randall

**_Yu-Gi-Oh!_, and all situations and characters thereof, belong strictly and solely to Takahashi Kazuki. This is a fan-work, meant for enjoyment only, and not for any material profit.**

It is a little-known fact that the Afterlife can get boring. The spirit Shaadi did his duty. He guarded the Sennen Items, then, when his job was done, he departed for his Eternal Reward. And then, he quickly became fed up with the quiet and the monotony of it all. And then he went looking. And he soon found two others who were also bored out of their skulls.

"Skulls," you understand, is being used metaphorically here. Separated now from their onetime Vessels, neither Atem nor the Thief King has a skull any longer. They're bored out of…

Well, you could say they're bored out of their ever-loving minds, but they probably wouldn't say it like that. Let's just say both of them could do with some amusement. And they're both profoundly glad when Shaadi shows up.

He's brought nectar and ambrosia, everything you need for an Afterlife-Party.

Best-case scenario, these wouldn't be necessary. A Pharaoh's tomb is supposed to be well supplied. Food, wine, chariots, plenty of Sacred Cats: There's supposed to be everything in there that the well-equipped Young Spirit of Fashion might need for his eternal stay. But other thieves besides Bakura have worked the Egyptian circuit over the years, and Atem now finds himself with precious little besides the tunic he stands up in.

Bakura, who was buried any which way, when the cave he was investigating fell in on him, has his cloak, his sandals, and the same profound hunger he had when he died. That ambrosia Shaadi's got looks _good_. And as for the nectar? Well everyone knows the Thief King has always had a taste for strong drink.

"My friends," says Shaadi.

Cue the inevitable demurs: "I was never your friend." (This from Atem.) "Friend? Ha! Bakura calls no man 'friend'." (From you-know-who.)

Never mind, the smell of fresh-baked ambrosia (not to mention the tinkle of ice cubes in the pitcher of nectar) soon brings them around.

After a while they're sitting cross-legged under a tree, by the side of a river which is just enough _not_ like the Nile to be perennially unsatisfying.

"I could have beaten you," Bakura says. This, after five or six glasses of nectar. "You had luck." He pours a seventh. "I had skill. I should have won."

The Pharaoh, made expansive by his own consumption of nectar, laughs. "I was favored by the Gods."

Bakura, with a snort: "Exactly. And you had your Vessel. That so-convenient Vessel, who always stepped in when you couldn't handle something on your own."

Ironic smirk on the boy-King's face. "Let's face it Bakura, you lost, and you will always lose. You are the lesser of the two of us."

The Pharaoh is probably right. He can get on his high horse though, and when he does, he's pretty irritating. Shaadi intervenes. "You cannot duel here," he says.

"Of course we can't." Irritable Bakura. "Our decks are with our Vessels, and Ryou's so stupid he probably destroyed mine."

Atem (scheming light in those violet eyes): "Perhaps the real Monsters…"

Best shut that one down right now. "Perhaps not," says the Guardian.

Says the Thief King, "If we cannot duel with Monsters, perhaps mortals…"

"Mortals," says Atem, "and we will match them against each other. But how?"

How indeed? The agreement is set at last, that they will take two of the small, pitiable fishes still swimming in the River of Time. They will erase their memories.

"Not all their memories," says the boy-King. "Only the parts where they have met each other."

"Only enough so they have to start afresh," says Bakura. "We will put them where you were…" Ironic twist of his mouth. "_Your Highness_, when your Puzzle was reassembled."

"Too blank," Atem says. "I knew nothing when I was restored. Yuugi had to teach me all."

It is decided at last, that these mortals will be allowed to know who they are, and where they are, and how to do what they are doing there. It is decided further, that for the purpose of experimentation will be selected two with whom both Bakura and the Pharaoh have had dealings.

"It was Set's choice to turn his back on his past." The Pharaoh's condemnatory voice.

And Bakura, being huffy: "You do realize he is not your priest, don't you? They are of one destiny, but their souls are not the same."

"A petty distinction." Atem waves it away. "Yuugi and I were as one, but Kaiba resisted. He deserves to have a lesson taught him."

"And the American," says Bakura. "The presumptuous one, who claimed an Item that was not his."

Shaadi smiles. The deception of Pegasus, so skillfully managed, was one of his finer moments.

A nod from the Pharaoh. It is done.

"They were attracted to one other," Bakura says.

"She who was soul mate to Set…" Atem's eyes grow dreamy. "I always thought it was her soul in the American's body, as Set's is, in the body of the boy Kaiba."

Thoughtful nod from the Guardian. "Truly you speak well, Pharaoh."

The resemblance is actually a coincidence. Kisara and Pegasus are not one, not even aligned, as were Set and Seto. The Pharaoh, Shaadi thinks, is trying to ease guilt that it was his victory that set the stage for Bakura's taking of the Eye. One should never be so rude as to contradict a King however.

And Shaadi lifts his hand. And in the Realm of Time, events are set in motion. One man, slumbering in bed, at his home on the western coast of the United States, stirs, then sleeps again. The other, but newly asleep, after hours at his desk, starts once, knocking over the paper cup by his head. Then all is quiet, and in both places.

"It is done."

Pleased smile from Atem. "Shorn of their past history, they will find love together."

And a more cynical one from the Thief King. "They won't."

One who is too wise to lay wagers on mortals and their exploits, merely nods, and asks, "What stakes?"

"Bragging rights," says Bakura, and the Pharaoh agrees. Considering both their enjoyment of bragging, either of them should be quite happy, should he chance to win.

Pegasus J. Crawford walks into his office, and there is a strange man there.

A very attractive man, with impressive coattails that seem to flare even while he's sitting down. "Who are you?" he says.

It's one of those arrogant voices, the kind as you use with headwaiters.

"You're in _my_ office." Has he met this man before? This so-attractive man, with the amazing coattails and the obnoxious voice? Can you forget meeting someone like this? Pegasus leans on the desk. He tents his hands. "You tell me who you are."

"I'm Kaiba Seto."

Oh yes, his eleven o'clock. Crocketts seemed surprised this morning, when Pegasus wasn't familiar with the name. He said something about the attack on Duelist Kingdom, and some doctors, who talked then about _lasting effects_. There were never effects before. Why would they be happening now?"

Pretty-boy (with the coattails)'s voice grates: "Don't toy with me, Pegasus. Mokuba says…" A pause, a falter. Is that a flicker of something in those (deep, deep, deep) blue eyes? "…He says you have a habit of that."

_Mokuba._ What faint echo is it, that goes through his head when he hears the name? "I don't know 'Mokuba'." Ironic voice (and a teasing tilt to the head that comes out of nowhere somehow). "Should I?"

"Dammit, Pegasus."

These are definitely after-effects (or something), and they're bad ones. Because if anyone's ever met someone like _this_, someone pretty like this, and so insufferably annoying as well, and they don't remember it, they need to have their head examined.

Very lightly: "Did you say why you were here?"

"The _contract_ …Pegasus."

Oh, this is starting to be fun (but _why_?). "Contract?"

"For Duel Monsters."

Pretty Kaiba Seto, with the grumpy voice, and the blue-blue eyes, is all business, and he should be all fun, and they should be on Pegasus' island (with the silk sheets, and the iced Chateau Pegasus '98), they should stay there for a long weekend, and not get out of bed _at all_.

…Where did that thought come from?

"Oh yes, that contract." And fumble-fumble. It's there, right? Mrs. Grundy is infallible… Oh yes, here it …Here _they_ are, the one made out in terms favorable to him, the other in terms _very_ favorable. "And now the negotiation, yes? Over lunch perhaps? My secretary got us reservations at The French Laundry."

That faint gritting sound? Kaiba Seto's teeth. He's _fun_, this one, more fun than the Creator of Duel Monsters has had in a long, long time.

"Mokuba said…" Again the flicker. He hides it well, but it's there. Something is bothering him. _Why don't we discuss it, pretty Kaiba Seto? Over dinner, perhaps, served in bed, and we don't have to go as far as Duelist Kingdom, my house in Napa will do just fine._ "…He said you'd try that. No negotiations, Pegasus. I want the same terms as before, or I walk. And you know your game is nothing without Solid Vision."

Solid Vision: Proprietary name for a line of consoles that let players view their Duel Monsters cards holographically. A very _good_ line of consoles. So this is the man behind the company that makes them?

"Please. You talk like no one else in the world makes gaming consoles. I2's got its own line." Not a very good line. "We've received offers from Sony and Nintendo." Lousy offers. That he turned down as soon as he got them.

"Cut the crap, Pegasus. You know you want my machines."

"And you want my…" What was it? It trembles, just out of reach, there was a Monster this one liked… Or someone at KaibaCorp liked it… But who was it? Which Monster was it they liked?"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Oh yes, that was it. KaibaCorp has that amusement park. And they have a statue… But it seems like there was something else too…

"If you think I won't walk, Pegasus. There are other games out there, and they have Monsters too. Pokemon… It wouldn't take much work to change the statue at KaibaLand into a Salamence."

A _Salamence_? Please, there's no comparison. And intuition tells him this Kaiba Seto knows it.

Sft voice, murmur the words: "Oh yes, I can see you doing that." And a flirty look, from behind silver hair that falls forward a little. "Because after all, one dragon is just like another, isn't it?" Oh, Kaiba Seto is _fun_. "I have a good idea, why don't you contact the Tolkein estate..." And he falters, his clever, Smaug-related comment dying on his lips. What _is_ it about this man? He knows him, but how? From where? And why would it all be a blank to him?

"I'll make a deal." When he speaks again, the Lord of Duelist Kingdom is subdued. "You get your contract, terms as specified. After that… We have to talk, Kaiba."

Kaiba Seto opens his mouth. He's going to say, _I have no need to talk to you…_ "I have no need…"

Shutting him down, "Of course you do. I know you feel it too. There's something between us. We have history, but for some reason neither of us can remember it."

"Mokuba will tell me."

This 'Mokuba': A manservant? A personal assistant, perhaps?

"Your 'Mokuba' can tell you your history, as my Crocketts can tell me mine. Can he tell you what's happened to your memory? Or why the same thing's happening to me, at the same time?"

Keep talking quickly, Pegasus. Forestall him, before he can say something about, _Oh, your drinking,_ and go away and neither of them find out anything: "Here." He puts the contract (the _less_-favorable one) in front of Kaiba. "Sign."

Kaiba skims it. He signs. Then, grudgingly, "I suppose it wouldn't do any harm just to talk for a little while." A doubtful look from those blue eyes of his. "You say you've forgotten me? And it just recently happened, right? Like today?"

"I suppose so."

"Lunch, someplace fast."

Move him toward the elevator. God, those _shoulders_ (in that ridiculous, coattail-flaring coat). "There's a sandwich place on the corner."

"That'll do." Elevator doors ping open. Kaiba steps inside (his _hair_ flares too, whenever he turns). "And none of your games, Pegasus."

Whatever role they played against each other before, Kaiba Seto is picking it up fast.


	2. Lunch with a Pretty Genius

_Sandwiches_: The boring sandwich place on the corner has such a variety, but all of them are just slices of bread, anchoring various commodities together, and they're served with a soda of some kind, or perhaps a light beer on the side. Quite monotonous, really.

Kaiba on the other hand, says there's too much variety. He looks at Pegasus suspiciously. "I said someplace simple."

_Kaiba-boy…_ Kaiba-_boy_? Where did that come from? …_Kaiba, this is downtown San Francisco; this is as "simple" as it gets._

"Excuse me for not taking you to the Golden Arches, so you could just get the Number One combo and be done with it."

Huffy-Kaiba (choosing a table as he talks): "At least it'd be fast."

Boring Sandwich-Place gets their food out to them quickly enough, goodness knows. Cured ham and aged cheeses for Pegasus, and the Lunch Special for his guest. No denying his amusement when the "Lunch Special" turns out to be Vegan something-or-other, on wheatless gluten-free bread.

Admittedly, the joke would have been better if Kaiba had noticed. He just grabs the sandwich and shoves a bite in. "You said you know your memory problems are recent."

_Lord, Kaiba, shove the alfalfa sprouts into your mouth before you talk. And the micro-greens on your sandwich? They're micro-mush. Swallow first, then talk._

Steely look from the blue eyes. "How do you know?"

"That's simple, Crocketts told me."

"Crocketts…" Oh god, when those blue eyes go hazy! Even knowing it's nothing but intellectual stimulation doing it, that dreamy look on his face still kills. …And then it goes away. And Alert-Kaiba is back. "A manservant… No. Head of Security for …For something. For I2? For the main office, but he wasn't always here, was he? Where was he before?"

"You know that, but you don't know me?" Disturbing feeling, like there's a gap at the center of him, and he hadn't noticed so much until this Kaiba Seto walked in, but now it's there, and they're both _poking_ at it.

"No kidding, Pegasus. That's why we're here. That's why I agreed to this god-forsaken lunch date."

This _date_. Does the word send echoes through Kaiba's brain too?

Probably not. He's not human, this one, he's just a very, _very_ pretty machine.

"Crocketts was Chief of Security when I hosted my tournament on Duelist Kingdom. Since then he's been more of a Personal Assistant to me."

Duelist Kingdom: The words strike a chord. "I was at that tournament."

No. No, he couldn't have been. "I'd remember someone as beautiful as you."

"Goddammit, Pegasus, will you stop saying stupid things? If you think I'm here so you can play your flirty little _games_…"

_Oh lord, Kaiba, they're not "games," and someday I'm going to override your programming and carry you off …And find out whether whoever built you remembered to add the proper man-bits for a night of passion._

And, giving him the proper veiled, superior, Pegasus-is-Boss look. "I'm saying you're memorable. _If_ you were at my tournament, and I've forgotten you, that's significant, don't you think?" And raising the bottle of depressing Diet Coke that serves as a "beverage" with this poor excuse of a meal. And taking a sip. "How did you do in the tournament?"

"I…" He starts off arrogant. This one _wins_ things. He doesn't _not_ win. And the look fades. Confusion replaces it. "I …I don't know."

"Exactly."

"It's a blank. One minute I was on a rooftop, dueling goddamned Yuugi. I… Ah, I had to win for some reason, I don't remember why. The next minute I… But who did win? And why would I have Yuugi and his stupid friends in _my_ helicopter with me?"

Oh lord, the memories from the tournament are still fresh, still painful. "Yuugi won." So much encompassed in those brief words. "I heard he gave the money to his blond friend. I don't remember the name… The uncouth one, who came to the tournament uninvited."

"Jounuchi."

A nod. "I had a ship prepared. A cruise ship, the same one that brought the duelists over. Only I…"

_Bakura._ The Item, that had _not_ been given to him, only lent… The Item, that had taken over, only god, oh god, it hadn't taken over, had it? All that darkness was always in him, he just suppressed it, and the Eye encouraged him to let it out.

God, so many crimes, and he can never, ever make good for them. There was the old man… What was his name? He trapped his soul in a card, and there were other souls… Whose souls? Because he'd meant to put Yuugi's soul in a card after he'd beaten him. He didn't understand about the Items then, he didn't realize that in the rightful Holders, there were _two_ souls… But didn't he have somebody else's souls in cards too? Whose?

"…I was indisposed."

Indisposed, you understand, is the fancy word you use when a psychopath robs you and leaves you for dead. _But you were pretty psychopathic too by the end, weren't you, Pegasus-boy?_

"I heard that they got off the island. …Yuugi and his friends. I never asked how. So you took them? But you must have been at the castle then. Why wouldn't I remember you? Why wouldn't _you_ remember _me_?"

"Someone wiped our memories."

Speaketh the computer-boy. Pegasus' light words: "Unlike you, Kaiba, I run on a brain, not a harddrive."

No amusement. _Of course_. One should be used to it by now. "_Funny_. Who would have done it, Pegasus? I'm assuming it was something that was done _to_ us? You weren't serving some kind of magic mushrooms on that island of yours?"

_You weren't eating much of anything while you were there, Kaiba. Because you were…_ He was what? Why won't it come?

"Someone did something…" Think, Pegasus, _think_. You used to say you were such a genius… But he used to say so many things. "They did it recently, and to both of us…"

"_Who_?"

God, that Kaiba is direct! He is a man of few words (but no moans of passion …_yet_), he'd probably speak in binary if he could get away with it.

"Well, if I knew that…" And that's when the thought comes to him. And just like that, Pegasus does know. "Well, it was Magic, of course."

Little snorty-snort from Kaiba.

"You tangle with the Sennen Items, you're never going to get free. This was the… Well, the Items are gone, but the Souls should still be there. The Souls that were attached to them… What souls? Yuugi's soul, right? And the other one… What was the name of that nonentity-boy that wore the Ring?"

And another snort. "You're saying Yuugi did this to us?"

You got a better idea, bright boy?

"How?" Then a hu-uuuge sigh. "It's a place to start, I suppose." Little suspicious look. "He can help me fill in the details I'm missing at any rate."

He'll tell pretty-Kaiba, in other words, just what a bastard Pegasus was when he ran the tournament. Minus side: He was a pretty huge bastard. Plus side: Maybe pretty-Kaiba won't mind. He doesn't seem like the type who runs own his business with kid gloves on. Maybe he's just as much of a bastard. They can be bastards together. And they'll have their wonderful bastard-castle, where they have long nights of sweaty bastard-passion, and wake up the next morning for bastard-Eggs Benedict and a couple of bastard-Mimosas to wash them down.

On the other hand, maybe pigs will fly.

"I'll come with you," he says. "We can take my jet."

"Knowing you, your jet's probably stupid-looking."

It's not. …Not unless you consider a pink jet with a cartoon bunny on the side "stupid". Which Pegasus doesn't.

"We'll take mine," says pretty-Kaiba.

And all rightie then. They'll take his.


	3. The Fireplug and his Wife

It's been… Oh, it's been how long since that unfortunate incident with Doma? Five years? Six? Yuugi hasn't changed, perhaps he's not going to. There's that grandfather of his, he looks just like him (barring the grey hair and the pervert-mustache). That's going to be Yuugi's fate someday, probably. He'll grow up old and stubby like a fireplug (but probably not as perverted). And he'll probably still be just as vacant, and just as polite, and just as nice, nice, nice, whether the occasion requires it or not.

He's got a wife now. Pretty Anzu. Has Pegasus met her before? She says he has, and she says it was on Duelist Kingdom, but lord, is a person really supposed to remember every random duelist in every tournament ever?

Of course he doesn't say that. "How could I possibly forget someone as pretty as you?"

Which makes Anzu smile. And it makes Kaiba very annoyed (but of course everything does that).

And Kaiba hems. And he looks at Pegasus with one of those, "Well, can't you get _on_ with it?"" kind of expressions. Apparently he thinks just dropping, "We think you've been tampering with our memories, Yuugi," into the conversation right after "Hello," is the best way to get good results.

There goes Anzu, by the way. Off to get coffee (maybe)… She's off to get something anyway, and she leaves them with her husband (who is just as good at polite, meaningless chit-chat as he ever was). "_So_ glad to see you again Pegasus-san, and I am happy to see you've recovered from that thing with Doma (that none of us could be bothered helping you with). And how are you finding our Japanese weather?"

(Meanwhile outside, their Japanese weather is still raining just as hard as it was when Kaiba tried to land that phallic symbol-jet of his in it, an hour ago.)

And inside, Yuugi showers them with more platitudes: "How are you doing, Seto-kun? And hasn't it been a while!"

And the look on _Seto-kun_'s face says it could have been a lot longer of a while and he wouldn't have minded. And then he comes out just at random with, "Pegasus and I have been having memory problems, and we think you're responsible, Yuugi."

And of course Yuugi's eyes, which are usually so wide his face looks like it's half-eye, start to go even wider And for a moment, his face looks like it's all-eye, just this wide expanse of purple, with a tiny little nose sticking out of the middle of it. And then he starts in with the politeness again. "Oh, Seto-kun, if I've wronged you in some way… And of course I wouldn't have meant to, because I would never do _anything_ to hurt you in _any_ way, and I _always_ have your bests interests _totally_ at heart, except maybe on the dueling field…" Only wasn't it the Other Yuugi who dueled like he meant it? Yuugi was always more of a wimp…

"Oh, and Pegasus-san, how could I have possibly… What could I have done… I haven't seen you in so long, I haven't even thought of you…" Not that he ever thought of him that much. Read Pegasus' diary? Oh yeah, maybe we shouldn't have done that. Leave his soul trapped, so my precious _mou hitori no boku_ can trounce the hell out of him, along with all the other Mirror Knights? What, did we do that? Never mind, Yuugi, far be it from this American billionaire to say anything to ruin your self-image of perfect good manners.

And Kaiba hems again (which stems the flow of politeness nicely). "So, did you do it?"

It's about this time that Anzu comes back and asks what "it" is.

And then the whole story unrolls yet again. Kaiba should remember Pegasus, but he doesn't; Pegasus should remember Kaiba, but he doesn't, _and_ this seems to have started about the same time for both of them, and so on and so on, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

And Anzu stares at Kaiba. And Yuugi gulps like a little fishie.

Kaiba (always direct and too the point) says, "Pegasus says you caused it, Yuugi. Why would he say that?"

And Anzu stares at _Pegasus_. And so does the little gulpy guppy-fish.

And Pegasus says, "Well, I thought of the Items."

And you would think neither of them have ever even heard of the Items before in their entire lives, from the way they both echo, "The _Items_?"

"Well, they do affect your mind," helpful-Pegasus says, "and since our minds are affected…"

And then they both echo, "Your _minds_ are _affected?_"

And then they repeat the whole story over again (and Kaiba isn't the only one thinking that if there are rocks dumber than Yuugi and his wife, they'd have to be some pretty stupid rocks).

And _then_ Yuugi starts to get helpful ("Starts", being the operative word here), by saying, "Well the Items were destroyed after the Final Battle. First mou hitori no boku defeated the Other Bakura, and then the Items were destroyed, and then he…" Sad expression. "…Then he entered the Afterlife." And then a little sniffle.

Apparently Yuugi is still carrying a torch for _mou hitori no boku_ that's so big it could light all of Domino City. One can't help wondering a little, whether his wife minds playing second fiddle to a ghost.

And Mrs. Yuugi says that she guesses the Other Bakura's soul went to the Afterlife too, and Yuugi says that the souls of the Evil don't do that, and then she says, "Well, where did his soul go then?" And he says that his soul went to wherever it is that the souls of the Evil _do_ go (and both of them probably thinking all the while, that that's where Pegasus' soul is going to go someday too).

And then Kaiba interrupts to say, "Well all this is very interesting, but even if I did believe in magic, which I don't…"

Yuugi looks at him kind of shocked, and says something about, "Really Seto-kun, and after we fought together, etcetera etcetera…"

And Kaiba goes on just as if he didn't say anything, and says that he _doesn't_, so there, but even if he did, he doesn't see how Items that have been destroyed could affect anyones' minds anyway.

And Yuugi says, "Well it could have been their souls doing it," because apparently those are still around, and can still influence people from the Afterlife.

That's really all that happens, except that all afternoon, Yuugi and his wife keep giving them both these _funny_ looks. And they keep saying, "You mean you don't remember him, Seto-kun? And you don't remember him either, Pegasus-san? …_At all?_" And then they'll look at each other, and then they'll look back at Kaiba and Pegasus again. But if you ask what they're talking about, they'll both just say, "Oh, nothing, nothing," and look off into space and sort of _hum_ a little.


	4. Hasn't Everyone Done Something Evil?

Flashback, Yuugi's eyes so troubled. Those purple eyes of his, and how long is it going to take before Pegasus stops seeing them the way they were in the Shadow Realm, and they blinked shut… They opened, and blinked shut. …Because _he_ was trying to destroy him…

And the uncomfortable feeling: That's what those looks he kept giving his wife meant, is that Pegasus did _that_ to Kaiba as well. …That he tried to destroy him… But why would he? And what good does it do anyone for him to forget it? Especially a Sennen Spirit?

And the thoughts gnaw at him, and he can't help talking to Kaiba about it (even though he knows robot-boy probably won't be any use at all). "What good would it do them… The Spirits, Kaiba, the Other Yuugi and… What was the other one's name?"

_Bakura_, it was Bakura. How do you forget the name of the man who tried to kill you?

"Bakura." Little bit of a grunt from robot-boy. Followed by a question: "What the hell do you mean?"

Jesus Christ, how can someone be so smart, and so dumb, at the same time? "Obvious. Yuugi said it was their spirits that did this. I'm just saying, why would they? What possible benefit could they get out of it?"

"Ghosts are ghosts." Little lean forward. One beautiful shoulder (not too disfigured by the tacky white dueling coat he wears), and Kaiba says, "Takahashi, find us a parking spot in front of The Fox." And he looks back at Pegasus (and his chin looks _so gorgeous_, surrounded by the collar of that ridiculous coat). "Ghosts can't do anything."

And they're parked. The Fox, by the way, turns out to be a ramen shop.

"Seriously, you're going to eat here?"

Kaiba's back keeps going as he talks to him, "You don't want to? Fine, wait in the car. Tell Takahashi to drive you around, it'll save me the meter-fees."

And Pegasus has to trot a little to keep up with pretty-back. "My god, talk about stingy… I suppose you're going to make me pay for my own ramen too?"

Flirt of the duelist-coat, as Kaiba's pretty butt slides onto a stool, and he looks around. "Get the special, that's what I'm having. You buy your own beer, if you want it."

"Oh, so generous, Kaiba-_sama_." Slide of another billionaire-butt, onto another hard little stool. "By all means, I will pay for my own Sapporo, and perhaps I could get you one too?"

Is that a smile on Kaiba's face? Hurry fast, you'd better notice it, because it's gone about half a second later. "I don't drink." But he doesn't argue, when the drink is in front of him.

And he drinks, and Pegasus drinks. And Pegasus goes back to what he was saying, "You have to know these ghosts can do things. Didn't Yuugi say you fought with him? Something like that? What was that about?"

Shrug of the pretty shoulders. "Not something I'm proud of. It was collective hallucination. …Something like that…" And his voice trails off. "It was…" Blue eyes go cloudy, and he looks at Pegasus. "I don't know what it was..." He takes a drink. Sapporo's gone in two seconds, and he doesn't complain when Pegasus pours him some more.

Pegasus eats slithery ramen. He spears a piece of pretty pink fish paste roll and looks at it. Kaiba drinks some more Sapporo. Are they both lost in their thoughts right now? (Or is Kaiba just having a run-time error?)

After a while, Pegasus looks at the pretty blue-eyed genius in the unforgiveable coat. "You did something on Duelist Kingdom that you're ashamed of, didn't you?"

And Kaiba looks back, and his eyes are just a little bit hazy… From two glasses of Sapporo? _Seriously?_ …"Why would you say that?"

And Pegasus goes totally honest (for once in his misbegotten life): "Because I did."

And he drinks more Sapporo. And Kaiba does (which is probably a mistake).

And Kaiba sounds just a little bit drunk when he says, "Yeah." And, "I've done worse, but …yeah."

Little lift inside his heart. Even now, there's this little lift: He's done _worse_. Oh god, oh god, are they perfect for each other or what? And Common-Sense-Pegasus says, "You're acting like an idiot." (And he ignores the hell out of Common-Sense-Pegasus.)

And he drinks the rest of his Sapporo. "So did I." And another Sapporo, and another. When you have to confess to somebody that you tried to kill an innocent little kid, just so you could get hold of the gob of gold around his neck, a few extra drinks are definitely in order. Of course if Kaiba hadn't matched him drink for drink, things might have gone a little better. …Or differently, at any rate.

Anyway, after three or four Sapporos, Pegasus manages to get out: "I was after something with that tournament."

"Aren't we all?" Drunken mumble. Followed by something he doesn't totally catch, about Yuugi's jii-chan, and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

And it seems like the most reasonable thing in the world to tell Pretty (Drunk)-Kaiba that he'll make him another Blue-Eyes if he likes them so much.

And Pretty (Drunk)-Kaiba says, "You're a wonderful guy, Pegasus." Followed by, "There are only _three_ Blue-Eyes, and there are never going to be _more_ than three Blue-Eyes, not if I can help it." Followed by, "What I really want is the God Cards."

_The God Cards…_ Quick flashback to the moment when he realized exactly how much power he'd just unleashed when he made those things. Christ, if only Ishizu had been better at hiding stuff.

"You couldn't handle the God Cards," says Helpful (Stupid)-Pegasus.

And then Kaiba practically kills him right there.

…And then they make up over another round of Sapporos. And another one.

You know it never occurs to either of them that the God Cards probably don't have any power any more, now that the Final Battle is over and done with? And it's not until the next morning that Pegasus thinks about that…

He thinks about it. And he sits up… It's at this moment that he realizes he's lying in bed with a very asleep, very naked Kaiba Seto next to him. And at first, he wonders how in the hell he got there, and then he remembers The Fox, and how drunk Kaiba got. …And then he realizes that five beers on top of some serious jet lag is probably not the best combination for today's California billionaire-on-the-go.

And he shakes Sleeping (Pretty)-Kaiba. "The God Cards don't have power any more anyway."

Mumble-mumble from Pretty (Sleeping)-Kaiba.

"You should ask Yuugi, I'll bet he'd give them to you. That kid is always about giving anybody whatever they want anyway, isn't he?"

Mumble-mumble: "I asked. He said no." And a snort, and a snore, and, "Said they reminded him of his mou hitori no boku."

"Natch. Why do you want them anyway?"

Yawn from Sleeping-Kaiba. "Use 'em to duel. Why the hell do you think?"

And, pat-pat of his own (slim, very well-manicured) hand, on a pretty naked Kaiba-shoulder. "I'll make you your own ones." And he cuddles a little bit closer (just in case the pretty billionaire wakes up the rest of the way).

(Which he doesn't.) "Yeah." Pleased-sounding mumble, from the naked pretty one. "That'll take the wind out of Yuugi's sails."

And Kaiba goes right back to snoring again, and leaves Pegasus to deal with a tiny hangover, and a lot of big, huge questions. Including, did he just sleep _with_ Pretty-Kaiba last night, or did he _sleep with_ him?


End file.
